Sliding door supporting apparatus



V l. SHAFER SLIDING DOOR SUPPORTING v APPARATUS Fiied July 6, i942" J m5 H. 7/ 7M |.l|fl J .H mw v v v a m 4 2: 2 d 4 a2 y M w F 16 M a;7/////%// m w ATTORNEY Patented, Oct. 9, 1945 ;eo aim' 01120519115Myinvention relates to a sliding door supporting apparatus particularlyarranged for use in suspending doors in shiftable edgewise relation"withthedoor opening. and shiftable into, narrow walls, and the objectsof, myinvention are;

First, toprovide a sliding door supporting apparatus of this, class inwhich the door-rides i freelyv on, a carriage mounted on a track, overhead.an d extendinginto the wall and in which the ,carriage will notjamor become wedgedin the door supp g i m i i Second, to prov del a doorsupporting apparatus ,of this class in which the door. may be readily'and quickly'po'sitionedor removed through the ordinary door openingfrom either sideof the Wall;

j Third, toprovide a sliding door supporting apparatus of this'class inwhich the height ofthe door relativeto its: supportin track may bereadily adjusted; 1

' Fourth, to provide a sliding door supportin g ap paratus' of'thisclass in'vwh ich the door may beinstalled by positioning one of thecarriagesfirsti'n the door opening near one side; whilefthe" otherportion of the door remains in the room, 'then'b'y shifting the otherside of the door into position andfmounting the same on'thetrack; l f

Fifth, to provide a sliding door supportingapparatus of this class inwhich the door and the 7 supporting apparatus may be readily installedor "removed and adjusted to" varying heights;

"Sixth, topr'ovide a sliding door su'ppornng'apparatus "of this class inwhich the' door supporting carriages may be quickly replaced when tie--sired; and Seventh, to apparatus of this class which is very simpleandeconomical of construction; efiicient in its action and which will notreadily deteriorate or get out oforder. Y E

-With' these and other objects'in'view as will appear hereinafter, myinvention consists-of certain novel features of construction,combination and arrangement'of parts and portions as Will'be hereinafterdescribed in detail and particularly set forth in the appendedclaimareferencebeing. had to the accompanying drawing and to-thecharacters of reference thereon whichform a part-of this application inwhich: L Figure 1 is a' transverse sectional viewof-the door supportingtrack, carriage and door shown 'fragmentarily taken from the line l-l'of Fig. 2;

Fig; 2 is a r-fragmentary longitudinal sectional view'taken fromjtheline 2-2 of Fig. 1; ig. 3, is a transverse sectional view of-the'trackcarriage and'fragmentary portion of the door taken from provide asliding doorsupp'orting '"part's and 'p'ortion's of the drawing:

the' line 3-3 "of- Fig; 4; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinalsectional view taken from the line 4-4 of Fig. 3*showing some of theparts'inelevation to'facilitate the illustration; Fig; 5 is a top orplan view-on a reduced's'cale'showing, the door 'partiallywinstalled'an'duh the' process of 'installation with one s'ideoutin the room;

" Similar characters'of reference refer tosimila throughout the severalviews The track members i and door-r3, carriage guides 4; carriage axle5; carriage wheels fi grease retainers "1',door'supporting bolts 8 and;9, door supporting plate 18 and door supporting; latch to i constitutethe principal parts and portion of my sliding door supporting apparatus.,f.

.The track-members'1 :and, 2 arepreferably L- shap'edsmembers,preferably made of wood and supported in spaced relation to each other,as

shown best in-Figs; 1 and 3 of the drawingand extend over theppeningforthe door and-into :the wallat the sideofthe door and form a trackwayfor supporting the door when itis shifted-into the'wall' from the openinas Well as when the door closes the; opening'; These tracks may besupported 'in any manner desired and;may be provided with specialtrackportions l:a audio to provide a specialwearing surface for'the wheels'6.1 Mounted on these tracks la and 2a or uponthe inwardly extendingportions ofthe members I and. 2 is a pair .of carriages each consisting]of wheels '6, which are revolubly mounted upon .axles Eat their'oppositeends. Thesewheels 6 are provided on theirinnersides with greaseretaining vmembens, 1 which are-filled with relatively hard grease toprovide lubrication for the carriage wheels onthe axles. v a

",Mounted on each of the axles 5 is a substantially U-shaped guidemember}! ,which extends downwardly betweenrthe inwardlyextendingportions of the track members I and 2, a shown best inFigs. 1 and3'of.the,drawing. {These members 4-serveas guides-for guiding. thewheels 6 in their proper relationpnltheltrack members I and 2 so thatthey .donot bind or wedge in the open space jbetweenthe track membersjfl. m

Screw-threaded in one of the carriage 4 at its lower side and extendingb etween the upwardly extendingmembers thereof is a bolt 8whichlis providedwith a square shank portion 8a in its head; which ispositioned; in aconforming shaped-opening 8b and itis provided with aflat .-head portion v 8c.1which fits against the top of the door andthis bolt is secured'inposition by means lof-a plat c 811 which iss'eolred on. the upper edge of the door near one side by means of screws orthe like.

Mounted in the carriage guide I on the other carriage is another bolt 9which is screw threaded therein in the same way as the bolt 8, but thisbolt 9 supports the door in a different manner. The door at this otherside is provided with a rectangular shaped recess 3a, as shown best inFigs. 3 and 4 of the drawing, and over this recess is mounted-a 'plateIII by 'of screws Illa. This plateis provided with an opening Illbtherein and is provided with an enlarged portion Ic which is adapted toreceive the'head 9a of;

the bolt 9 and when the carriage together with side of the door, thesquare portion 9b of thebolt 9 will extend into the narrow portion ofthe slot Illb which prevents the turning of the bolt 9. This plate I0 isalso provided with an upwardly extending pin IIld which extends upwardlya slight distance from the uppersurface of the plate II); It is alsoprovided with a slot IIle in its end.

Positioned on the bolt 9 above the square portion db .is a latch IIwhich is an elongated plate provided'with elongated slots I Ia and Iilbnear its opposite ends and is adapted to fit over the bolt 9 above thesquare portion 9b at its one end :and

' over the pin Iilld at its opposite end when the door is installed inits operative position, shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing:

The ends of the inner extending portions of the track members I and 2are cutaway at b and 2b a suificient distance to permit the wheels ofthe carriage Ii to be raised upwardly through the opening provided bythe cutaway portions 1 b and 2b, as shown best inFig. 5 ofthedrawing;

The operation and installation of my sliding door supporting apparatusis substantially as follows:

One of the carriage members "is pivotally connected with the door at theone end in :its adjusted relation, and positioned with the wheelstraversing the door at one side of its upper edge and'the lower side ofthe door is positioned slightly on an angle so that the carriage may beinserted through the openingsformed by the cutaway portions Ib and 2b inFig. 5 of the drawing, then the door is straightened up and the carriageenters the opening until the wheels are above the track portion, thenthe carriage, together "with that particular side of the door is shiftedlongitudinally on the trackway,=as shown in Fig.5 of the drawing. Thenthe carriage with the bolt 9 and latch I I is inserted through theopening formed by the cutaway portions lb and 2b and the wheels shiftedlongitudinally onto the trackways ofthe members I and 2 the latch memberextending .backwardly. Then the door is shifted into alignment with the'trackway and the free side of the door is shifted upwardly so thatthe'bo'l't head 9a passes through the opening Inc, then by shifting thelatch member I I endwise, the square portion 9b of the bolt enters thenarrow portion I'Uc of the slot so that the door is supportedby the bolthead. The latch is then shifted to a position where the pin IO'd entersthe .slotflila of the latch member II and the door is ready forcontinuous operation.

To remove the door, a. pencil or sharp pointed instrument is insertedthrough the slot IIle under the latch II and the latch raised until thepoint 10d is xdisengaged from the slot I I a. The

latch is then drawn :backwardly or the door moved away from the sameuntil the bolt head reaches the opening H10 in the member In and thedoor can drop below the bolt head and the door can then be shifted tothe position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing. Then the other carriage maybe shifted backwardly and removed through the opening formed by thecutaway portions Ib and 21).

It will be noted that with this structure and mode of operation no stopsare required at the opposite sides of the door at the top side and thedoor may be adjusted 'at the one end by simply dropping the door at theone end and screwing the bolt 9 into the guide member 4.

Though I have shown and described a particular constructiom combinationand arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited tothis particular construction, combination and arrangement, but desire toinclude in the scope of my invention the construction, combination andarrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a. pair ofenclosed spaced trackwaysga pair of roller carriages arranged to ride onsaid trackways each provided with downwardly extending relatively wideguide means arranged to extend in the space between said trackways forguiding said roller carriages, and a door pivotally and adjustablyconnected with one of said carriages and latch means for connecting anddisconnecting the other side of said door with the other carriage, Saidtrackways provided with cutaway portions at one end which permits theinsertion -.of said carriages from the lower side between saidtrackways.

, 2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a -pairof enclosed spaced trackwayS, a pair of roller carriages arranged toride on said track-ways each provided with downwardly extendingrelatively wide guide means .arranged to extend in 'the'spacebetween-said trackways for guiding said roller carriages, -.a doorpivotal-1y and adjustably conneced with one or said carriages and latchmeans for connecting and disconnecting the other side of said door withthe other carriage, :said trackways provided with cutaway portions atone end which permits the insertion of said carriages from the lowerside between said t-rackways, said latch means including a latch membershiftably connected with one of said carriages, plate means inconnection with said door which receives a portion of said carriage andwhen shifted by said latch means secure said carriage in connection withsaid door.

3. In a sliding door apparatus of the class described, the combinationWith an overhead track "positioned over the doorway and extending pastthe some, :said trackterminating 'a slight distance from one side of the:door opening, of a door with rollers adjustably and pivotalllyconnected to one upper corner of said door and extending above the same,a latch'means secured to the opposite upper corner of said doorincluding a plate rigidly secured to said door provided with a slottherein with an enlarged open portion at one end of said slot and aroller arranged to roll on said trackway and pass through the opening atthe ends of said 'trackway over said doorway provided with a latchmember which fits in the enlarged portion at the end of said slot andshi'ftable into said slot.

4. In a sliding door apparatus of the class described, the combinationwith an overhead track positioned over the doorway and extending pastthe same, said track terminating a slight distance from one side of thedoor opening, of a door with rollers adjustably and pivotally connectedto one upper corner of said door and extending above the same, a latchmeans secured to the opposite upper comer of said door including a laterigidly secured to said door provided with a slot therein with anenlarged open portion at one end of said slot, a roller arranged to rollon said trackway and pass through the opening at the ends of saidtrackway over said doorway provided with a latch member which fits inthe enlarged portion at the end of said slot and shiftable into saidslot, and means in connection with said plate rigidly secured to saiddoor which shifts the latch connected with said roller whereby saidroller may cess in its upper side near one edge, .a plate secured oversaid recess provided with a slot therein with an enlarged open portionat one end which receives the head of said bolt and with a narrowportion which looks the head of said bolt in said recess when the boltis shifted relatively to the door.

6. In a slidng door apparatus of the class described, a hanger includinga par of spaced rollers, a U-shaped guide member suspended from saidrollers, a bolt adjustably mounted in the lower side of said U-shapedguide member and extending below the same provided with a head I on itslower end and a door provided with a recess in its upper side near oneedge, a plate secured over said recess provided with a slot therein withan enlarged open portion at one end which receives the head of said boltand with a narrow portion which looks the head of said bolt in saidrecess when the bolt is shifted relatively to the door, and means inconnection with said

